Dream
work and healing

By Montague Ullman, MD.

Dream work is not an exercise in a vacuum. The group dream work I engage
in has as its endpoint behavioral change. Change, in turn, is related to one's
capacity for self-healing. Dreaming consciousness is potentially a natural
healing system in a way quite analogous to our immune system. Ever available,
our dreams respond to the resurgence of unresolved issues in our lives.

The notion of healing can be applied appropriately to dream work in a
number of ways. These relate to the nature of dream content, the way in which
dream work is carried out, the altered relationship of the dreamer to his or
her own dreams as a consequence of dream work, and the changes that take place
in relationship to others.

The
content of dreams

All of us continually rework the emotional heritage of our past. Our
dreams help us do this in rather remarkable ways. When some vulnerable area is
exposed in the course of our daily life, the dream takes the initiative in
tracking it down to its historical origins. Our dream seems to have access to
deeper informational sources than are ordinarily available. Since we are always
honest with ourselves while dreaming, the information we come up with is
reliable. Jung spoke most movingly about this feature of our dream life when he
wrote, "So flowerlike is it in its candor and veracity that it makes us
blush for the deceitfulness of our lives."

The dream's relevance to our current life situation, the historical
perspective it affords and the honesty of the self-scrutiny that ensues are the
qualities of the imagery that makes their explication a healing experience. The
result of dream work is a movement toward greater clarity and openness, not
about a trivial aspect of our life, but rather around an issue from our past
that has intruded into the present in a way that has set up an unresolved
tension.

The
process of dream work

Consciously or unconsciously, there is a tendency for people to seek out
emotionally healing experiences. One way that it can happen is through dreams.
There is something curious about the curiosity everyone has about dreams. It is
more than idle curiosity. I believe it hides a deeper awareness that dreams
speak to hidden truths about our nature.

With the dream comes an insistent urge to get at those truths. It is as
if, at some level, we all recognize the validity of the Swedish author, Poul
Bjerre's characterization of the dream as a "natural healing system."
Quite early in the century Bjerre took issue with Freud and saw dreams as
readily available routes to healing. His writings demystified dreams and showed
how the understanding of dreams could be helpful to everyone in their every day
life. Jung, who was more intuitive and insightful about dreams that Freud,
pursued the same path.

In contrast to physiological healing, emotional healing takes place
outside the physically defined limits of the person. It happens because of
changes that occur in an interpersonal field. Other people are an essential
component of emotional healing. Emotional difficulties start with human beings
and are resolved through human beings.

Dream work evolves best in the context of an interpersonal field. The
process I have described is so structured as to elicit and maximize the ability
of others to function in a healing way toward the dreamer. This effects the
release of the dreamer's own self-healing potential. Accompanied by, supported
by and stimulated by the group, secrets are shared and a truer version of the
self emerges.

In group dream work there are general and specific factors that
contribute to the healing effect. The general factors include:

1. The rapid generation of trust in a
non-intrusive atmosphere created by the structure.

2.
The concern with and respect for the
dreamer that are built into the process.

3.
The sense of mutuality and commonality
of experience that is generated by the way the group members, through their
projections, share aspects of themselves with the dreamer.

4.
The lack of hierarchical structure. The
leader assumes no special professional role and has the same option to share
dreams as everyone else. In all other respects he or she functions as one of
the group members. This flattening arrangement makes for greater sharing.

The specific factors involved arise in connection with the way the group
facilitates the occurrence of metaphorical responses in the dreamer to the
various elements of the dream. The group's ability to open the dream up for the
dreamer begins first with the range and virtuosity of their own projections and
later is furthered by the skill and effectiveness with which the dialogue is
carried out.

The
dreamer and the dream

As dream work develops there are changes in the relationship of the
dreamer to the dream. From being accidental, intrusive, strange and sometimes
frightening visitations, they are transformed into useful communications which
contain information of value to the dreamer. Dream work becomes demystified.
There is a sense of the potential accessibility of the dream and an awareness
that, when the dream is pursued in a supportive social context, the dreamer
becomes better known to himself or herself and to others in a way that has
elements of release and a sense of greater wholeness. The freedom to let
oneself be known to others is also the freedom to be oneself.

One learns not to judge a dream on the basis of the immediate reactions
it produces. These largely reflect the set and bias of the waking state. To
judge a dream by the standards of the waking state, e.g., whether it is deemed
interesting or not, is also misleading and prejudicial. Such judgments are
irrelevant to the nature of the dream. The dreamer soon learns that the only
thing of importance is the connection the imagery has to a larger and more
truthful version of the self. Regardless of the waking impression it produces,
the dream comes to be looked on as an available and helpful private resource.

The
dreamer and others

Healthy changes occur in the dreamer's own interpersonal milieu. The
dreamer has been given privileged glimpses deep into the souls of other people
and has seen there the same mix of vulnerability and strength that he or she
has come to see in themselves.

The dreamer has had the rare experience of witnessing people coming
together as healers for each other. The dreamer has learned how to participate
in healing others as well as himself or herself. There is a deepening
appreciation of self and others and a growing sense of communion. There is a
greater awareness of the circumstances under which other people live, a greater
sensitivity to the struggle that is part of being alive and a greater interest
in and tolerance for others. There is a healthier expansion and deepening of
the social field and, as a consequence, a greater openness to new experience
and competence in interpersonal relations.

The dreamer benefits not only from what the dream says but also from how
it is said. Dreamers come to recognize and appreciate, sometimes for the first
time, the range of their own creativity and how it keeps them supplied with an
unending source of useful imagery. When so motivated, the dreamer can channel
this creative resource into artistic and aesthetic outlets in the waking state.
Nighttime imagery is experienced as a hidden creative resource which is there
for the dreamer's benefit and which can be called upon when needed.

Reprinted
in abridged form from "Closeness in Personal and Professional
Relationships," Edited by Harry A. Wilmer, Shambala, Boston, 1992, with
the kind permission of Dr. Wilmer.